Category Archives: Flash Fiction

July 30, 2020

This entry is part 9 of 16 in the Flash Fiction: Darkest Before the Dawn

Written in 20 minutes. No time for rereads or typos.

Elizabeth handed Patrick a chart with a wrinkle of her nose as she watched one the nursing students drop a huge stack of charts by the vending machine. “I’m trying to remember if I was that bad when I started.”

Patrick frowned, followed her eyes, then shrugged as he looked back at the computer. “Probably. You’re not much better now.”

She narrowed her eyes, then whacked his arm. “You’re a jackass.”

“It comes naturally.” Patrick scowled at the chart in his hand. “Did you take handwriting class from Satan or something? I can’t read this—”

“You’re just getting old,” she muttered, snatching it back from him and read out the medication dosage. “Why are you in such a cranky mood today?”

“Because the world is stupid and I’m tired of it—” Patrick exhaled sharply. “I went downstairs this morning.”

“Downstairs—” She sighed. “To the lab?”

“Yeah. I haven’t been down there in months, and I wanted to avoid it—I usually do. That’s why that weird lab tech is always up here.” Patrick gestured at Brad who had just left the elevator. “They gave her station to him.”

Elizabeth looked at Brad, who looked at her at the same time. His eyes got wide and he immediately turned and sprinted away. She squinted. “He keeps running from me,” she murmured.

“Who does?” her brother asked as he walked up to the hub, set down one chart and picked out another from the tray. “What’s wrong?”

“Brad Cooper, the weird lab tech,” Elizabeth said. She looked at Patrick. “I mean, isn’t he always running from me? What did I ever do to him?”

“Maybe he was running from me,” Patrick said. “I was a little…irritated when I saw he’d moved into Robin’s station.”

Steven hesitated. “I should have warned you, man—”

“No, it’s fine—”

“I don’t think it’s you,” Elizabeth insisted. “He’s been weird around me for, like, months.” She wiggled her shoulders. “Since the water thing—” Then her pen dropped from her fingers.

She could almost pinpoint the day his strange behavior had begun—the day he’d delivered those test results to her.

Sam’s test results.

“Well, maybe that’s it,” Steven suggested. “Everyone’s been a little weird since then—” He tipped his head to the side. “You okay, Bits? You look weird.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth blinked a few times, then focused on her brother. “I’m, uh, fine. I was just, um, thinking about Thanksgiving. You said Mom and Dad are going to Sarah’s this year. Are you coming to the house? Patrick and Emma are coming.”

“That depends,” Steven told her with a lift of his brows. “Is Jason going to be there?”

Elizabeth pursed her lips. “You mean one of my best friends and whom I’m currently dating? Yes. He will be there. You’re not going to do this again, are you? I didn’t want to hear it on my birthday, I don’t want it now—”

“Well, you love to make the same mistakes over and over again, it’s not my fault that I means I have to—” Steven scowled, looked at Patrick. “Come on, man. You were around for her first round with him. Can’t you talk sense into her?”

“He is not in charge of me—”

“Uh, point of correction—” Patrick put up his finger. “None of us were around for that first round. No one knew it was happening.”

“That—” Elizabeth glared at him. “One, that’s not the point. And Two, not helping!”

“Also,” Patrick continued, giving Elizabeth an eye roll before looking at Steven. “You weren’t around for any of that either. You wanted her to give Lucky another chance which really made me want to punch you.”

“That—” Elizabeth stabbed a finger at her brother. “That is an excellent point!”

“Fine. You be an idiot. I’ll talk to Liv and see if she wants to come, but I think we might be invited to Dante and Lulu’s—”

“Son of a criminal by the way!” Elizabeth called as her brother walked away. “Honestly,” she muttered. She saw Brad step on the elevator. “Hey, Brad!”

He looked at her, and almost in a cartoon manner, started pressing the button faster. Elizabeth scowled, and started over to him — but he was able to get on the elevator before she could reach him.

“Sorry! Send an email!” Brad said as the doors closed.

“This is…not good,” Elizabeeth decided as Patrick stepped up behind her. “I told you it’s me he’s avoiding.”

“Yeah, but why?”

“I—” she sighed. “I have a bad feeling I know why, but I need to check something out first.”

“All right, but if you get arrested, make sure to give me a heads up in case you need bail,” Patrick sighed as they returned to the hub.

——

That night, Jason came over for dinner as he did most nights now, and after Cameron had finished his math homework (with a lot of grumbling and complaining), he decided this was a good time to teach Jason how to play video games.

“Okay, so you press this button—” Cameron said, pointing at something on the controller. “Then this one—”

“Uh huh,” Jason said, looking at it skeptically. “I’m going to be bad at this,” he warned.

“That’s okay.” Cameron pressed play, and sat next to him. “I like to win, anyway. Why do you think I want you to play me? Patrick and Uncle Steven always kick my butt.”

Elizabeth ignored them, reaching for her phone when it lit up with a message.

Happy to help! What do you need?

She bit her lip, looked at her son and Jason playing video games as Aiden cackled in the background—because it turned out Jason wasn’t too bad at the game after all and had already beaten Cameron in the first round of Mario Kart.

She should leave this alone. She’d done what she was supposed to do and had no reason to believe the results had been faked.

But then Elizabeth sighed. She’d never be able to live with herself if she didn’t find out for sure.

Can you get into test results at the hospital?

A few minutes later, Spinelli replied. Yeah, but why?

Because I think someone lied to me, and we need to fix this.

July 29, 2020

This entry is part 16 of 16 in the Flash Fiction: An Everlasting Love

Written in 20 minutes. No time for rereading.

Elizabeth hadn’t planned to return to Diamond Springs — ever — but when she’d received the telegram from Jason about Ric’s sentence, she’d asked Patrick to follow up and find out when the execution was planned.

Part of her felt uneasy at the idea that Ric would executed for what he’d done—but there was also a part of her that thought that some people were too evil for the world. If Ric were still alive, maybe he’d find a way to do this again one day. Elizabeth didn’t want to feel like she had any more blood on her hands—not after what had happened to the Lewis family for simply trying to help.

When Patrick had given her the execution date, Elizabeth found herself buying a train ticket and arranging for his wife, Robin, to look after Cameron for a few days. She still wasn’t sure why she was going back until she saw Jason and his grandmother step out of the jail.

He looked at her, blankly, almost in shock as she approached him. Elizabeth frowned when she saw Lila hand something back to him, then walk away. “Is that your badge?” she asked as she reached him.

Jason exhaled slowly, looked down at his hand. “Yeah. Today is my last day.” He rubbed his finger over the gold star. “You—” He looked up, met her eyes. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here. Not today.”

“I wonder if part of me just couldn’t believe it would really be over. I saw the telegram, and Patrick brought back some newspapers, but…” Elizabeth turned to look at the gallows, at the noose that hung from the strip of wood. “There was no other ending, was there?” she murmured. “Once he was charged with theft.”

“No,” Jason said. “But—”

“He’d only hurt someone else one day,” Elizabeth cut in. “I know that’s true. But I suppose after Alexander and his brother, after my grandfather, Cameron, even my father for all his faults—” She sighed. “There’s been enough death.”

“I’m sorry—”

“No, don’t—” Elizabeth touched his arm—just a brush of her fingertips against his sleeve. “He knew the penalty for theft as much as anyone else. He simply never thought he’d get caught.”

“Do you want to—Are you sure you want to watch?” Jason asked. He grimaced as he saw his cousin leading the sullen Ric towards the gallows where the judge and the executioner were standing. Dillon’s face also looked pasty and pale.

“No, I think—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Can we go somewhere? Or do you have to—”

“They won’t notice if I’m not here.” Jason took her arm and they turned their back on Ric Lansing to walk across the street to the house where Jason rented a room. His landlady would normally not countenance an bachelor escorting a woman to his rooms, but Faith Roscoe had never turned down the chance to go to a public execution.

When he opened the front door, he heard the trapdoor across the street drop down and he closed the door—not even looking to see what happened to Ric.

Elizabeth pressed a hand to her stomach as the crowd’s cheers rose. “I’ll never understand it,” she murmured. Jason agreed and led her upstairs to his rooms.

“If you didn’t come back for the execution,” Jason asked, “then why—”

“You’re leaving your job,” Elizabeth interrupted. She licked her lips. “Where are you going? Back to the marshals service?”

“Maybe.” Jason took her hand in his. “I was actually planning to go to San Francisco first. To see you.” He searched her eyes. “I want a chance.”

“I—I came back to see you. To see if there was a way—” She swallowed hard. “I don’t want to spend my life running away. I still don’t know if I can live here, in town, but I don’t want to look back one day and regret—”

He tipped her chin up and kissed her. After a moment, Elizabeth slid her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He drew back slightly, brushed his fingers over her cheek. “I love you.”

Elizabeth smiled, kissed him again. “I love you, too.”

——

Three Years Later

Elizabeth laughed as her son picked himself up from the mud puddle and brushed at his trousers. “Mama!” Cameron said with a glare. “You said you wouldn’t laugh.”

“I didn’t say any such thing, Cam.” She opened the gate to the paddock, the reins of her horse in her hand as she led Penny inside. “I told you to slow down and not to run when we’ve had all that rain—”

Cameron stomped his foot. “I’m gonna tell Papa—”

“Tell Papa what?”

Elizabeth turned, her smile broadening as her husband strode towards her, their two-year-old son in his arms. “Oh, you’re just in time! I’m putting Cameron on Rusty for the first time.” She nodded at the pony tied to the post.

“I’m glad I’m didn’t miss it.” Jason stopped just outside the gate and leaned over to kiss her. “We just came back from seeing Grandma Lila.”

“Candy!” Jake proclaimed with a grin. He had his father’s sunny blonde hair and his mother’s bright smile.

“I can see the chocolate,” Elizabeth said. She looked at Jason again, her own smile matching his. “She can’t help herself.”

“Mama, I wanna ride!”

“Better go help him,” Jason said, “or he’ll skip Rusty and move on to Penny—”

“He wouldn’t—” Elizabeth whirled around just as Cameron stopped, his hands dropping from Penny’s reins. He turned an innocent grin towards his mother. “Cameron Hardy Lewis—”

“Fine,” Cameron said with a huff as he stomped back towards the smaller pony.

“That boy will be the death of me,” Elizabeth muttered as Jason laughed. “And don’t start. I know he’s exactly like I was at that age.”

“As long as you know it.” Jason leaned over to kiss her. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

July 28, 2020

This entry is part 15 of 16 in the Flash Fiction: An Everlasting Love

Written in 20 minutes. No time for rereading.

Two days after the town of Diamond Springs lined up outside of the jail, Jason walked back to the cells, keys in hand.

Ric looked disheveled—his shirt was wrinkled and dirty, stubble on his face. He scowled, rising off the thin cot in the corner. “It’s about damned time you let me out! I’ll have your job for this—”

“No need,” Jason said simply. He unlocked the cell. “I’ve already submitted my resignation. Circuit judge is out front, waiting for you.”

Ric narrowed his eyes as he walked towards Jason who slapped a pair of handcuffs on his wrists. “Who’s the judge?”

“No one you know,” Jason told him. He grabbed his upper arm and shoved him towards the front of the jail. “You’ve been charged with sixteen counts of forgery and twelve counts of extortion. You know what that means if convicted, don’t you?”

Ric’s face paled as he turned to look at Jason. “Extortion—”

“Same sentence as stealing a horse, and out here, that’s still hanging offense.”

“No—”

“Did you really think that no one was ever going to stop you? You stole people’s homes, their life savings—”

Jason steered the banker into the room where the judge held his hearings when he came to town once a month. “And now it’s time to pay.”

—

He sent a telegram to Elizabeth as soon as the judge passed sentence on Ric—with the testimony of the people in town, the documents that he and Dillon had unearthed from the bank, including the mortgage foreclosure papers he’d prepared for the Webber ranch—

It had only taken the judge twenty minutes to convict Ric and sentence him to hang. Ric’s face had turned a ghastly white—he’d never expected anyone to come for him—to turn on him. But as his grandmother had told him—sometimes it just took one person to stand up and say no.

Elizabeth had responded to his telegram with a brief message — simply Thank You. He didn’t know how to take it—how to interpret it. She’d boarded that train with her son, and now he wondered if she really had meant that night to be one last memory—if she’d really intended it to be a goodbye.

“I am deeply unhappy to learn you won’t take back the resignation,” Lila declared as she swept into the jail the day Ric was due to be executed. “Clearly, we have a need of you here—”

“Grandmother.” Jason got to his feet. “I came home to take care of you, but to be honest, once I got here—” He looked around. “I’m not sure this is where I’m supposed to be.”

“Nonsense. Who is going to do this job as well as you? Barely two months back home and you’ve already freed this town from the clutches of that dreadful man.” Lila sniffed. “I won’t hear of it.”

Jason shook his head, walked over to the post and took down his hat. “Elizabeth can’t live here anymore,” he said quietly. He met his grandmother’s eyes. “She made that clear before she left. She knows the ranch is hers again, free and clear. Patrick is coming back to arrange a sale. She’s not coming back.”

“I can understand why she would be reluctant to stay, but surely, you could speak some sense into her. If she doesn’t want the ranch, why, you’ll inherit my home here in town—”

“I can’t ask her to come back, so I’ll go to her.” Jason put on the hat. “If you’ll excuse me, Grandmother, I have to attend the execution.”

“I do wish we didn’t have these in public,” Lila grumbled as she followed him out of the jail. She wrinkled her nose at the lot next door where the gallows had been erected. “Such things should be done in private.”

“Well, you try to tell this crowd that they don’t get to see Lansing swing from the rope.” Jason looked at the crowd already gathered. It didn’t sit well with him—he’d never been a fan of sentencing a man to death for anything less than murder — but maybe Lansing deserved it nonetheless for what he’d done to the Lewis family. Alexander and Peter would likely still be alive if Ric hadn’t stolen their inheritance.

“How soon will you go to San Francisco?” Lila asked.

“This is my last official duty.” Jason unpinned the badge, handed it to her. “I’ll be boarding the train tomorrow morning—”

Lila sighed. “Well, if I can’t talk you out of it—”

“You can’t—” Jason started to walk over to the lot, then stopped as someone stepped out of the crowd, towards him. He stared at her for a long moment. “Elizabeth.”

“Well, perhaps you may need this after all—” Lila took his hand and put the badge in it, then walked away as Elizabeth approached.

July 27, 2020

This entry is part 14 of 16 in the Flash Fiction: An Everlasting Love

Written in 20 minutes. No time for rereading.

Elizabeth stirred, feeling the bed beneath her sink and shift slightly. She opened her eyes, then rolled over to find Jason pulling on his clothes. She blinked blearily, then smiled lazily for a moment—

Then remembered. The smile faded, and she slowly sat up, holding the coverlet to her chest, watching Jason fasten the buttons on his pants, then tug his shirt over his bare chest. “Is it dawn?”

Jason nodded with a regretful smile. He slid the curtain away from the window a bit and Elizabeth could see the gray light creeping over the horizon in the distance. He rounded the bed and sat on the edge of it to lean forward and kiss her softly. She wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him there—

SHe wanted to stay in this moment, live here forever—pretend that this could be her life, her future—

“I didn’t want anyone to see my horse,” he murmured against her lips. Jason pulled back slightly, dancing his fingers over her temple. “Unless…” he tipped his head to the side, searched her eyes. “Stay,” he said. “Last night…Elizabeth—”

“Part of me wants to,” she admitted. “But I just—” Elizabeth bit her lip, touched his lips. “I want to, but I can’t live here—with all these memories. I stayed because I was terrified of what Ric might try if I left.” She sighed. “Until he tried to take my son, and I realized there was a line. There was a limit. I’d run forever if it meant Cameron was safe.”

Jason dipped his head, then nodded and stood, starting to button his shirt again. Elizabeth winced, slid her legs onto the floor, her toes brushing the cold hardwood. “Jason. I know you think this will work. I want it to work. I want Ric to pay—”

“But you can’t trust it.”

“I can’t.” Elizabeth’s throat tightened. “I don’t want to have the same argument again. Please. I—”

“You have no reason to trust me. To trust anyone,” Jason told her. He pulled her to her feet, framed her face in his hands and kissed her again. “And maybe you’re right—maybe this won’t work. You need to make sure you’re safe—that Cameron is safe. So go to San Francisco.”
‘
Elizabeth closed her eyes, let her head fall against his chest as he held her in his arms. “Will you—will you send me word? Tell me what happens?”

“Yeah. I will.” He kissed her one more time. “I’m not giving up on us yet,” he told her softly. “But I understand why you are.”

Elizabeth’s lips curved into a smile as she tightened the coverlet around her bare body. “Clearly, I didn’t give up after everything else that happened. So—maybe I’m not giving up either. I’m…just taking a break.”

“I promise that I will find a way to make this right and give us the chance we deserve,” he told her — then went to the door and left.

—

Jason didn’t go to his rooms after leaving the ranch — he knew he wouldn’t be able to find any more sleep, not after spending a few hours in the bed of the woman he’d loved all his life.

He’d let her down in so many wany ways — he wasn’t going to let anything come between them again.

When the clock on the court house rang that morning at eight, Jason was in the jail, pouring over documents that they’d taken from the bank after the arrest, looking for the evidence he knew the circuit judge was going to need.

Then he heard the train—the whine of the locomotive as it pulled out of the station on the other side of town—

He knew Elizabeth and Cameron were on board—he knew she wouldn’t change her mind at the last minute, so it was important to make sure this counted—

That Ric Lansing paid for everything he’d ever stolen from Elizabeth and anyone else.

“Hey, Jase—” Dillon came in, shoved his hat up his head. “Something very strange is happening outside.”

Jason blinked, then got to his feet. He walked over to his cousin, then stepped out of the building onto the sidewalk. There was a crowd lining up down Main Street, and first line — his grandmother.

Lila lifted her chin, met his eyes. “I heard that you’ve arrested that scoundrel.”

“I did—” Jason blinked, looked down the line to see Lucas Jones, his aunt Felicia, and some of the bank tellers—twenty or thirty more people behind them. “What is this? Did he threaten you?”

“Yes. And that’s why I came. I paid a few visits after I received word yesterday.” Lila leaned heavily on her cane. “I thought I was the only person Ric Lansing terrorized, blackmailed, but I wasn’t.”

Jason frowned, looked at the line again. “Are all of these people—”

“We’ve all been scared,” Felicia Jones murmured. “He threatened to take my home—”

“He threatened to take my mother’s store,” Lucas reported.

“I wasn’t strong enough when you needed me to be,” Lila told Jason. “And I think that I helped Ric take something very precious from you. I don’t want to help him anymore.”

“But—but why now?” Jason shook his head. “Why didn’t anyone say anything before?”

“We all thought we were the only ones,” Felicia admitted. She folded her arms. “But we’re not.”

“Sometimes, dearest,” Lila said, touching his arm. “It just takes one person to stand up first.”

July 21, 2020

This entry is part 13 of 20 in the Flash Fiction: Desperate Measures

Written in 20 minutes. No time for typos or edits. I mean it. I do not reread this before I post them, and I am aware there are errors. Please assume I have basic spelling comprehension and know how to reread and revise. Thank you. I can’t write almost 1000 words in 20 minutes if I worry about spelling or typos.

When Jason and Elizabeth went into the living room, they found that Diane and Cameron had let Drew into the apartment. He immediately strode over to Elizabeth and wrapped her in a tight hug.

“Hey. I’m sorry I didn’t come by earlier—I didn’t—the PCPD wouldn’t tell me if you’d made bail—”

Elizabeth hugged him back briefly, then stepped back. She couldn’t forget that this was another man who had chosen Sam, who had protected her, She folded her arms, stepping gingerly away from the brothers, looking over at Cam. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Diane and I worked out a statement in case the PCPD gets a material witness order.” Cam flicked his eyes at his lawyer. “And she works for me now.”

“I should be able to buy a very nice pair of discount sneakers…on clearance,” Diane said dryly. She cleared her throat, looked at Elizabeth. “I’m…sorry…if what happened before gave you reason not to trust me. But—”

“It’s—” Elizabeth bit her lip, looked at Jason for a moment, before returning her attention to the redhead. “It’s fine. It’s just been a lot today.” She looked at Drew. “What are you doing here?”

“I—” Drew hesitated. “I’ve been trying to find Sam. I believe you—” he told Jason quickly who had furrowed his brow. “I—I hate that I do, but with what happened last year—” He looked Diane. “It could be her.”

“It is her,” Jason said flatly. “Elizabeth remembered seeing her there.”

Drew closed his eyes, absorbed the hit, and nodded. “Okay. Okay.” He dragged his hands through his hair, then down his face. “Okay. I tried to find her, but she’s not returning her calls. Alexis hasn’t heard her—”

“Spinelli is tracking her down,” Jason said. He folded his arms, then frowned. “What happened last year?”

“Sam got sick,” Elizabeth said softly. “After Scout was born, she was really sick. And she had some sort of—” She hesitated, looked at Drew. “What did Finn say? A kind of psychotic break?”

“Toxoplasmosis,” Drew clarified. “She—she tried to kill Sonny.” His smile was grim. “I ended up shot and nearly died. It was…she’s okay. She recovered—at least that’s what the doctors told her—”

“That’s what she said the doctors told her,” Diane pointed out. She folded her arms. “The PCPD dropped charges—they didn’t mandate reports from the doctors, so unless you spoke to Finn directly…?” she trailed off and Drew shook his head.

“No. I never—I took her word for it. I—” He looked at Elizabeth. “I thought she’d recovered, but maybe—maybe it explains it. I mean—I know she’s done terrible things, Elizabeth, but this—this is different.”

“Is it?” Elizabeth asked numbly. “You have no idea.” She closed her eyes. Maybe it was easier for Drew to believe that Sam was sick. Maybe he was right.

“Mom?” Cameron asked quietly. “What’s wrong? Why—what are they talking about? I know—I know Sam was part of what happened when the house caught on fire—she shouldn’t have been following Jake around—”

“Following Jake?” Jason said, sharply. “What?”

“She thought he was—she thought he was in trouble,” Drew said, almost faintly as if it sounded as ridiculous now as it had then.

“He got hit by a car—again—running away from her,” Elizabeth told Jason. “She came into my home, accused him of doing things that would make Drew want to come back. He got scared, and she fell down the stairs. He ran away and nearly died. Again.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “I—I didn’t know.”

“You wouldn’t. We don’t talk about Sam’s crimes very often.” Elizabeth flicked her eyes to Drew who couldn’t meet her gaze. “Somehow when she does it, there’s an explanation. A justification.”

“Elizabeth—”

“Mom—”

“Do you remember when Jake was kidnapped—the first time?” Elizabeth asked Cameron. “You were young. He had just been born.”

“Yeah.” Cameron rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Everyone was crying a lot, but Jason found him. Brought him home.” He managed a faint smile. “I remember that.” His eyes widened. “Wait. Did—”

“Sam watched Maureen Harper take my child out of the stroller and walk away from him,” Elizabeth told her son. “Then she refused to let me and Lucky go on her show to beg for him back. She came over to my house — knowing where my baby was, knowing he was Jason’s son — and told me we were the same. We’d both lost a child. She never told the truth, by the way.”

“She would—” Drew trailed off, looked at Jason. “She would have—”

“No.” Jason met Elizabeth’s eyes. “No. She probably wouldn’t have.” He cleared his throat. “You never told me she came to the house.”

She raised a brow. “If I had, would you still have forgiven her? Married her?”

“I don’t understand,” Cameron said, holding up his hands. “I don’t—Sam basically kidnapped my little brother.” He turned his eyes on Drew and Jason, who both had the memory. “She has tormented my mother since Jake was born — I know that. I’ve been there for that. She made sure that Drew left Mom and enjoyed it, by the way,” he added sarcastically, “and you’re telling me—that you still—you both still—” He looked at his mother. “I don’t understand.”

“That makes two of us.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “But as I am often reminded by everyone, I am not entirely innocent. So let’s put all that away. Sam hates me and has for years. I can understand if she’s sick again that it might have escalated like this. So—” she faced the brothers who were both extremely uncomfortable. “Did Spinelli find her?”

“He hasn’t called yet,” Drew said, looking at Jason. “Did he call you?”

“No.” Jason took out his cell phone. “I’ll check in with him again.

—

Spinelli had found Sam, but he hadn’t told either Drew or Jason. He wanted to help—he wanted to fix things. He was sure it was all a giant mistake.

He knew Sam—he knew she wouldn’t do something so awful to Elizabeth and her children. Jason and Drew—they were wrong.

So he went by himself to the motel where he’d tracked down one of her aliases and knocked on the door. “Sam? It’s Spinelli.”

Sam answered the door a moment later, then stepped back. “Spinelli, come on in.”

A bit unnerved at the welcome, at the empty expression on her face, Spinelli gingerly stepped past her, into the rundown room. He looked around that water stained walls, the cracked drywall. “Sam, what are you doing here? No one—your kids—they haven’t heard from you.”

“They’re safe,” Sam said, closing the door. She turned to face him. “I had to make sure they stayed safe.”

Spinelli swallowed hard, searched her eyes, looking for some hint, some trace of the woman he’d considered a member of his family for so long. “Have you heard the news? What happened to Franco? And Elizabeth? At her house last night.”

“Yes. I know what happened.” Sam’s lips curved into a smile. “It’s about time someone ended his existence, don’t you think?”

“Uh. Yeah. Sure. But, uh, don’t you—I mean, Elizabeth was hurt—attacked,” Spinelli told her. “And she’s been charged with his murder—”

“I saw that.” Sam leaned against the door, her smile deepening. “Karma, ain’t it a bitch?”

Spinelli blinked, then shook his head again. “No—”

“She protected a rapist for years.” Sam shrugged a shoulder. “And now she’s paying for it. People generally get what they deserve, Spinelli. And she deserves this.”

July 20, 2020

This entry is part 13 of 16 in the Flash Fiction: An Everlasting Love

Written in 20 minutes.

The arrest of Ric Lansing by the still relatively new sheriff spread through Diamond Springs like wildfire, even to the ranches outside of the town proper. Patrick had brought the news to Elizabeth himself when he’d come out to take a look at the horses whose sale he was arranging on Elizabeth’s behalf.

Elizabeth had been stunned that Jason had not only meant it when he said he was taking on Ric directly, but that he’d followed through. She was sure the charges wouldn’t stick — Ric had stolen enough money over the years to keep him out of trouble—but no one had stood up to Ric like that before. She’d tried to report him — had tried to talk the previous sheriff into helping her and Cameron — but no one had believed her.

Jason had.

She wondered if Jason had planned to arrest Ric that day or if he had done so more quickly because she was leaving in the morning. She wondered if he’d come to see her, if he’d try to stop her again.

And believing he might, Elizabeth waved Gail Baldwin goodbye one last night as her son picked up for the ride back to town, tucked Cameron in tight for his last night in his room, then went to sit on her porch.

The moon was high over her head, after midnight when she caught sight of his horse in the distance. When Jason tied up the reins, Elizabeth stood and walked into the pool of moonlight. He blinked at her, then took a deep breath.

“You’re…awake.” He stepped onto the first step as she stood at the top of the staircase.

“I thought you might come.” She stepped down one step, then arched a brow. “What were you planning to do if I wasn’t?”

“Sit there.” Jason nodded at the bench. “Until morning. To stop you from leaving. I arrested Ric—”

“Patrick told me.”

They met on the middle step, but he didn’t touch her. Didn’t reach out to take her hand. She could only dimly see him in the moonlight.

“He’ll bribe someone,” Elizabeth told him, but she smiled faintly. “But he’ll spend a day or two in jail. That—that brings me more joy than it ought to—”

“He won’t buy himself out of this,” Jason insisted with a shake of his head. “He already tried to contact someone—but he didn’t remember something important.”

Elizabeth frowned, tried to search his gaze, but she couldn’t in the dark. “What?”

“My family—your family—the Lewises—they’ve been here longer. You remember Jimmy?”

“Jimmy? Your cousin?” Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “Not really. He only visited a few times from San Francisco—”

“He’s a politician. And he remembers Dr. Lewis. And your grandparents. He also—” Jason exhaled slowly. “He was one of Ric’s victims. In exchange for political favors, Jimmy got to keep his house.”

“Then—”

“When he realized I could arrest Ric, he contacted two others in the legislature who had been exhorted by Ric. Ric played too many games. Went after too many people. He got greedy.” Jason reached for her hand. “They were just waiting for someone to stop him.”

Her lips trembled as she took that in, then she closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I wish I could—I know you believe it. I know you’re not lying to me, but I—”

“You’ve lost too much,” Jason finished. “I know. And no one else in this town stood up to Ric. You still plan to leave.” He rubbed his thumb over her palm. “I know.”

“I thought it would be enough to save the ranch,” Elizabeth admitted, “but I can’t. It’s not. Every where I look, I see something he destroyed. I want to start over. I want something new. I just—” She touched his jaw. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he told her, roughly. “It’s not enough to fix it now. I should have came home when you didn’t answer the telegrams. I should have done more a long time ago.” He stepped closer to her, their bodies just brushing. “I should have taken you with me.”

Elizabeth bowed her head, her forehead leaning against his chest. “But I wouldn’t have my son. I can’t think about what ifs, Jason. I don’t have that luxury.”

“So we won’t talk about before anymore.” Jason tipped her head up, resting his fingers under her chin. “I know you have to leave tomorrow. I came here to tell you I understood. That it won’t stop me from making sure Ric pays, but that I—I think you deserve more. You deserve that new start.”

“Thank you,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. He caught a tear with his thumb, then brushed it away. “But that’s tomorrow. There’s—” She cleared her throat, then licked her lips as their eyes met, somehow connected in the darkness and shadows. “There’s still tonight.”

They were standing so close that she felt his breathing change—the way his chest moved against hers. “Are you—Do you mean—”

“I just—I want a memory with you,” she told him.” Elizabeth leaned up to brush his lips against his. Once, then twice—and on the third time, Jason crushed her against him. “Cameron’s asleep, but his room is in the back of the house,” she told him when they parted, their breathing shallow and raspy. “Mine is in the front. Will you—”

He answered her with another kiss, then lifted her in his arms and started up the stairs.

July 19, 2020

This entry is part 8 of 16 in the Flash Fiction: Darkest Before the Dawn

Written in 20 minutes. No time for edits.

“Cameron Hardy Webber—”

The eight-year-old dressed as Flynn Rider paused, his eyes wide, the unwrapped lollipop a centimeter from his mouth.

“I told you she’d see you,” Emma Scorpio-Drake sniffed.

Elizabeth shoved the pumpkin-clad Aiden at Jason and stalked across her living room to glare at her eldest son. Still clutching the lollipop, Cameron grinned back at her.

Behind Jason, still in the entry of the house, Patrick grimaced. “A Webber stand-off. We could be here for hours. Shove over, I need to remind my kid about rules.”

“Daddy, I told Cameron not to eat the candy before his mommy told him he could,” Emma assured her father. She fluttered her eyelashes.

“Uh huh.” Patrick, standing next to his fellow parent and comrade in arms, raised a brow. “What’s that on your face?”

“Where?”

“Corner of your mouth.”

Emma’s tongue darted out to lick the spot, and then her eyes narrowed. “It was Cameron’s idea!”

Stunned at this betrayal, Cameron whirled on his—now former—best friend. “You lie! You said we should sneak a piece!”

“And we would have gotten away with it if you hadn’t picked a Blow Pop!” Emma shot back. Her Rapunzel wig slumped foreward on her forehead. She shoved it back.

“You have chocolate all over your face—”

“Candy.”

Jason looked down at the two-year-old he held and saw that Aiden’s chubby hand was reaching for the plastic container he had on his arm—filled with Aiden’s candy. “Uh—no,” he told him. With one hand he set the container on the table and stepped down into the living room, behind the sofa.

“They always dime themselves out,” Elizabeth said as she traded a grin with Patrick. “Works every time.”

“Divide and conquer,” Patrick agreed. “God help us if they ever figure out they’re stronger together.” They shared another smile before Patrick strode over to pick up his daughter before she landed a kick to Cameron’s shins.

“Cameron, go upstairs and change and wash up. We’ll have order pizza, and then you can have some candy.”

Cameron scowled as he stomped across the living room, up the raised stair to the entry, then up the stairs, grumbling all the way about dumb girls and their stupid plans.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Patrick told Elizabeth as Emma kicked over his shoulder, railing at the injustice of taking the blame for the candy crime. “Dinner? Emma made you a card, so you can’t skip it.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then. Bye, Emma—”

“Bye Aunt ‘Lizabeth,” Emma muttered, remembering her manners as Elizabeth closed the door behind them. She turned back to Jason.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” she asked, as she retrieved the pumpkin from his arms. Aiden pouted, pointed at the candy on the table.

“No. I, uh, don’t think I’ve been trick or treating in a while,” Jason admitted. “Joss usually goes with Jax and Carly. And Michael hasn’t gone out—” His mouth tightened slightly, remembering that Michael’s last Halloween had likely been the year before he’d been shot in the head.

“Thanks for coming, by the way,” Elizabeth said as she dropped Aiden on the sofa and started to strip him of the costume. “With three adults and three kids, it’s easier to keep an eye on them.” She exhaled slowly. “Last year, Cameron almost wandered in front of a car.”

Jason sat next to her, Aiden between them. “Hey.”

She met his eyes, smiled ruefully. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay. You want me to order the pizza?” he offered, relieved that the sadness in her eyes had been fleeting.

“Yeah, thanks. I’ll get Aiden washed up, and we’ll pick a movie.” She lifted Aiden, then hesitated. “Um…do you—do you want to stay? I mean, for the movie.”

“Sure.” Jason watched her go up stairs with her son, then pulled out his phone to make the call.

—

A few hours later, Cameron had passed out in front of the television, a pile of candy wrappers in front of him, the ending credits of his favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus, scrawling across the screen.

“I might just let him sleep on the floor,” Elizabeth told Jason as she reached for the last slice of pizza in the box on the coffee table. “You know…” She looked at her son again. “I read somewhere that one day, you’ll realize that you picked your kid up for the last time, and you didn’t even know it. He’s—he’ll be as tall as me in a few years.”

“I can take him up if you want,” Jason offered. Elizabeth bit her lip, looked at him. “If you want,” he repeated.

“I—” Elizabeth hesitated, set the pizza down. “This is going to sound insane,” she said. “But I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“I won’t drop him—”

“No—” Elizabeth shook her head. “No, that’s not what I mean. I just—” She met his eyes. “I like having you around. With the boys. Tonight. I mean, Patrick and I—we’ve mostly got this single parent thing down. He’s struggling a lot, but he’s getting there. I’ve been doing it longer.” She paused. “I don’t want to depend on anyone to help me with the boys.”

She waited for him to tell her that it was just a trip up the stairs—that it wasn’t that serious—but Jason didn’t do that. He just took in her words, then nodded.

“I understand. I—” He looked at Cameron again. “I promised you once that I wanted to do that. To be with them. I thought—I thought he’d be mine,” Jason murmured, almost inaudibly. “And the last few weeks, sometimes I’ve….”

“Found yourself pretending,” Elizabeth offered when he trailed off. He managed a slightly embarassed smile.

“Yeah.”

“Me, too,” she admitted. It had been almost six weeks since that day at Sonny’s non-wedding. Since they’d brushed up against that line, and she’d run away from it.

And he was still here. Still not going back to Sam.

Was it time to stop being so scared?

“Why don’t you take him up?” Elizabeth told him. “I’ll be up in a minute to tuck him in.”

“You sure?” Jason asked as they both stood. He caught her elbow. “I don’t want to do anything that might hurt you—”

“I know.” She leaned up, their eyes met for a second before she brushed her lips across his. “But I think it’s time we stop pretending this isn’t happening, and find out if…this time…”

He tucked her hair behind her ear, leaned down to return the soft kiss. “This time, it’s different,” he promised her.

“I know,” Elizabeth said. She smiled at him, even as her stomach fluttered, even as her brain screamed at her that it never was. She was going to ignore all common sense and try—

Just one more time.

July 18, 2020

This entry is part 12 of 16 in the Flash Fiction: Whatever It Takes

Written in 20 minutes. No time for edits.

Smoke seared her lungs as Elizabeth struggled to think, struggled to make sense of what was going—the smell of gasoline seeped into her nostrils, and thne she became aware of arms dragging her away, dragging her across the grass lawn.

“No, no, no!” she slapped at the hands, tried to crawl towards the car. “Jason! Where—”

“We have to get out of here!” her brother’s voice filtered in through her panic, her terror. Not again. Not another bomb. Not another explosion to blow apart her life—

“Not without Jason!”

“I’m—” She heard his voice—heard Jason’s coughing as he limped towards them—he’d been blown clear of the car—the force of explosion had sent him away from Steven or Elizabeth, on the other side of the lawn—

“We have to get out of here before they realize you’re alive!” Steven hissed at her. With Jason in her sight, this time, she let her brother drag her to her feet and half-carry her back to the bushes—around the house, and to a back driveway where an ashen Kelly Lee was already in the driver’s seat of the SUV.

“Jason—where—”

“I’m right behind you,” he assured her, his voice barely audible through the rasp. Steven shoved her into the back seat, and barely allowed for time to Jason to climb in after her before he was screaming at Kelly to go.

Kelly backed out of the driveway just as fire engines and sirens rolled down her street—they sped past curious and panicked neighbors, past the broken hulk of the SUV they’d driven to the house only minutes before—

“What the hell is going on?” Elizabeth demanded. “Steven, where have you been? Who—how—”

“I’ll explain everything as soon as Kelly gets us out of town—” He glanced over at the doctor who nodded, and without question, took a turn that put them on the highway out of residential Port Charles and the town entirely.

—

Ten minutes later, Kelly took an exit that brought them into a heavily wooded area—down a back road where they pulled up in front of cabin. Elizabeth was shaky as she got out of the car, holding a piece of her jacket to Jason’s arm, bleeding heavily. He’d been more injured than he’d let on, and was struggling to keep alert.

“Just a few more minutes,” she told him. “Steven—STeven, you need to—”

“I got him, Bits. Go in with Kelly. Don’t worry—no one can find us here.”

“How—” Elizabeth swallowed her protests, then nodded. It could wait. It had to wait.

Kelly seemed to know where everything was—which made Elizabeth wonder what the hell was going on with the doctor and Elizabeth’s brother. She grabbed a first aid kit, and was already unpacking it when Steven laid Jason out on the sofa.

“You’re okay?” Jason asked, grabbing Elizabeth’s arms. He swallowed hard, his eyes drifting closed—then he jerked them open. “You didn’t get—”

“I’m fine,” she promised, looking over as Kelly started to clean the wound on Jason’s arm. Steven winced at the mess of Jason’s leg. “I’m fine. We’re okay. Just—just relax, okay? It can wait—”

“It can’t,” Steven said grimly. He looked at his sister. “You’re on to them. They’re probably already moving her.”

“Her.” Elizabeth’s heart felt like it was flipping in her chest. “You mean—”

“Lily.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “She’s—she’s really—”

“She’s alive,” Steven said grimly. “I didn’t—I had my suspicions from the beginning, but I couldn’t prove it. I still can’t. But I know it.”

“How—” Elizabeth looked at Kelly.

“I didn’t—I didn’t know. I thought both babies—” Kelly cleared her throat, focused on cleaning Jason’s arm, then searched the kit for the needle kit so she could stitch the gash. “I thought they’d both died. That wasn’t a lie. I didn’t know for months that you’d been told she was still born.”

“That was Devlin,” Steven bit out. Elizabeth blinked, shook her head.

“Ian? Ian told you—”

“He was on duty in the ER,” Steven said. “He took you in—he created the electronic records. He must have made the switch.”

“This—I can’t follow any of this. How do I get my daughter back?” Elizabeth demanded.

“I don’t know,” Steven admitted. He met her eyes, and she could see the anguish in them. “I should have told you—I was trying to protect you. I knew someone was trying to kill Jason—I didn’t want—”

Jason propped himself up on one elbow, and with all the energy he could muster. “You were out of town when I got shot in Cairo,” he managed. “Where—”

“I was trying to find you,” Steven admitted. “I caught up to you, but I think—I think I led them right to you. I’m sorry. I didn’t—” He looked at his sister. “It’s all my fault.”

“No.” Elizabeth shook her head. “No. Of course not—”

“Steven, let’s get him to one of the bedrooms,” Kelly murmured. “You can finish stitching that leg with more room and you can start at the beginning. We’ve pieced enough together.”

“Yeah.” Steven exhaled slowly. “Yeah. Jason, can you—”

“I can make it.” Jason grunted as Steven helped him to stand, then slowly the four of them went down a hallway to a bedroom.

“What is this place?” Elizabeth asked, frowning as she looked around.

“I bought it two years ago,” Steven told her. “Kelly and I have been using to compare notes and plan. They don’t know about it—”

“You keep saying they,” Jason cut in. “Who is they?”

“Ric,” Steven said. He cut away the bottom half of Jason’s jeans. “He was behind the car bomb. He meant to kill Jason. He wanted to leave Elizabeth alone.” He looked at his sister. “But then you decided to take the SUV to the appointment. And Ric must have scrambled. He couldn’t kill Jason, but you’d survived. So he—”

“He took our daughter,” Elizabeth said faintly.

“He hoped that would drive you apart until he could take another shot,” Steven continued. “I think. I don’t know for sure. He keeps everything close to his chest, but he set up Sonny and Carly to take the fall. Sonny ordered the explosives, and Carly—” He closed his eyes.

“Steven, what happened the night Carly died?”

Steven looked at her, tears in his eyes. “He caught us. In bed. We were having an affair. I heard footsteps, so I tried to get away. I didn’t—I left by the back stairs, I thought we got away with it—but then they found her the next morning—her neck was broken—”

“Oh, God.” Elizabeth pressed her fist to mouth. “Steven—”

“Sonny must have killed her, because then he tried to kill me. In my apartment.”

July 17, 2020

This entry is part 12 of 20 in the Flash Fiction: Desperate Measures

Written in 19 minutes. No time for edits or typos.

Before Jason could even think about answering Cameron’s question, Diane strode back into the room, her cell phone still in her hands.

“Okay, I’ve got my assistant writing up an emergency motion that Judge Worth will sign at—” Diane checked the time on her phone. “Two. The arrest warrant will be squashed then.” She lifted her brow, looking around at the room. “Where did Elizabeth go?”

“She needed a minute.” Cameron turned away from Jason, folded his arms. “Why doesn’t my mom trust you?” he asked, directing the uncomfortable question to Diane who pursed her lips. “I don’t understand what’s going on—”

“Well,” Diane drawled, looking at Jason with a bit of regret. “After the truth about Jake Doe came out—the truth as we knew it back then—you remember that a lot of people weren’t happy with your mother.”

“Yeah,” Cameron said, darkly. “It rings a bell.” Jason frowned at him, wondering how bad it had been. “But what did you have to do with it? You were always my mother’s lawyer before then.”

“Because Jason asked me to take her on as a client,” Diane clarified. “I felt—I suppose—that my loyalty was to him. And as I thought she’d lied to him—” She cleared her throat delicately. “I may not have been kind or understanding.”

Cameron scowled. “Because no one in this town ever lies, right? God forbid my mother just acts like everyone else for five minutes.” He took his his wallet from his jeans and removed a crumbled five dollar bill. He set it on the counter in the kitchen. “I agree with my mother. I’d feel better if I were paying for my own lawyer. Does this work?”

Diane stared at the five dollars, which Jason knew would barely pay for her fancy coffee, then reached for it. She stared at the wrinkled bill, then raised her eyes to Cameron. “I regret the way I acted, and I owe her an apology. This works.”

She looked at Jason. “If you don’t mind, I think my new client and I need to have a frank conversation about what happens if the PCPD still manages to get him in the seat for questioning. I can keep him from getting arrested, but it might be harder to argue against a material witness order.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Jason said. “I have to go—” He left them talking and went down the hall. He gently knocked on Jake’s door.

“Come in,” Elizabeth called, her voice muffled.

He found her standing by the window, looking out over the view of the waterfront. From his apartment he could see the warehouse, the pier, Kelly’s—and even the corner of her old studio building.

“Should I apologize?” Elizabeth asked without turning around.

Jason exhaled slowly, then closed the door behind him. “Do you feel like you said anything that was wrong?” he asked.

“No.”

“Then, no.” Jason folded his arms, remaining by the door. “Cameron just hired Diane, by the way. For five dollars. She’s on his retainer now.”

Elizabeth smiled faintly, then looked at him. He was struck by the sadness in her eyes, the tenseness in her shoulders—all of the anger, the fire, and determination she’d exhibited in the living room with Diane, Chase, and Jason—it had dissipated, almost like it had never existed.

“I should probably apologize to Diane,” she admitted. “She wasn’t all that nice after everyone found out the truth, but no one was. And I know she takes her job seriously. I just—” Elizabeth said nothing for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts. “I don’t know. I guess I can’t see anything clearly when Sam’s involved.”

“I get it. She’s—she’s done a lot of damage over the years,” Jason told her. “And I know you don’t trust me—”

“It’s not that I don’t—” Elizabeth turned around to fully face him. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Jason. It’s that I don’t—” She bit her lip. “I hate her.”

“I know—”

“No, you don’t—” Elizabeth shook her head. “You don’t know. I mean, I hate her. For what she did to me with Jake—all those weeks of terror—of not knowing where my baby was—then those men with the guns in the park—I just—I don’t think I could ever forgive her for it.” Her eyes burned into his. “And I don’t know why you did. So, yeah, when it comes to Sam, Jason, I don’t entirely think you’d put me first. You never have before.”

She looked away again when he said nothing—he had no defense to any of that. Sam had commited those crimes against Elizabeth, and it wasn’t his job to talk her out of the anger or attempt to explain how he could—only two years later, allow Sam back into his life.

“Then again, I married Ric after what he did to Carly, right? And I took Lucky back after all the damage—you know, I nearly married Ric again a few years ago? And I lied about Danny. I kept another son from you. First Jake, then Danny—”

“Elizabeth—”

“I thought—I thought at first I would just to do to her what she did to me,” Elizabeth admitted. “I’d lost Jake. I’d lost him, and Sam had stolen time from me. I’d never get those weeks back. It seemed—God, it seemed so fair that I’d do the same for her. And I’d get to finally win.” A tear slid down her cheek. “I was going to wait the exact same amount of time Jake was kidnapped.”

“You barely managed a week,” he murmured. “And I never blamed you. I never told Sam.”

She looked at him with a small smile. “I know. I’d like to think you wouldn’t have told her, but you were shot and kidnapped soon after. So, we’ll never know for sure, right?”

“I never blamed you for lying about the test,” Jason repeated. “And I believe you about Sam. I think—I know she’s capable of this. I know her history. What she did as a con artist before she came to Port Charles.”

“Well, I guess that’s something,” Elizabeth murmured. She cleared her throat. “Should we tell the police or—”

They looked towards the door as they heard a door open in the front of the apartment. “Mom?” Cameron called. “Drew’s here! He needs to talk to you about Sam!”

July 16, 2020

This entry is part 7 of 16 in the Flash Fiction: Darkest Before the Dawn

Written in 20 minutes. No time for rereading.

Jason set a twenty on the counter, picked up his coffee, and turned around to head out the door—stopping short when he saw Sam just behind him.

He cleared his throat, and she looked at the ground. He hadn’t seen Sam around all that much since they’d signed their divorce papers in August—just that one time, really, in the park two weeks earlier when he and Elizabeth had been on their way to Cameron’s fall picnic.

He’d turned a corner, and Elizabeth had stopped first. Jason hadn’t noticed Sam or John McBain at first—he’d been looking at Elizabeth, enjoying the way she talked about her day at work and her stories about the patients she’d treated. She’d been happy that day—happy in a way that she wasn’t often after they’d lost Jake.

Jason had looked over, followed Elizabeth’s eyes to the bench where his ex-wife was sitting with McBain. There’d been a slight tensing in his stomach, in his shoulders, and he’d almost said something—

But then he’d felt Elizabeth’s grip on his hand weaken, starting to slide away from him, and Jason was jolted back to where he was—and what her fears were. She didn’t trust him not to go back to Sam, not to drift back to the comfort of someone he knew wouldn’t challenge him. Wouldn’t make him want to be a better person.

He’d smiled at her, and they’d continued on to the picnic, even after he’d seen Sam look at them. Jason had handled that moment just right, and he’d swallowed any other feeling. It was better than upsetting Elizabeth even a little.

But now he was standing in front of his ex-wife. No Elizabeth around to influence the way he reacted, and no one in the diner that might take news of this back to her.

“Uh, hey,” Sam said, finally. She scratched her forehead, and offered him an awkward smile. “I haven’t seen you around in a while. Not since—” She cleared her throat. “Anyway.” She folded her arms. “How are you?”

“Good,” Jason said cautiously, not sure where she was going with this. “You?”

“Good,” she repeated, nodding. “Um. I—” She pursed her lips. “I don’t—I shouldn’t ask you this because it’s none of my business. It’s not,” she added as if he’d argued with her. “But I guess I can’t help myself.”

“Okay.” Jason waited as Sam’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she looked away. She rocked back on her heels, then took a deep breath.

“Are you and Elizabeth—I mean—are you—” Sam looked at him, and he could see the vulnerability in her eyes—and he realized that he’d left Sam with the same worry that Elizabeth had. Neither of these women were confident that he’d chosen them—that he would choose them—that they weren’t in competition with each other.

Jason hesitated, unsure how to answer the question, uncomfortable with the realization of what he’d done somehow, without meaning to. He didn’t want to lie to Sam, but he wasn’t sure of the truth.

Were he and Elizabeth together? No. Not technically. Not in a way that she was comfortable stating, but—

Jason didn’t want to lie to Sam, to himself, or anyone else. “Yeah,” he said finally. “We’re working on it.”

“Oh.” Sam’s mouth formed the word, but the sound was barely audible. She hadn’t expected that. “I—I didn’t—” She took a deep breath. “Okay, then.”

“Should I apologize?” Jason asked, uncertainly, conscious that he’d hurt her but not really sure what to do about it. They’d been separated for six months, and their relationship had already been on life support prior to that. He knew she’d drifted towards John McBain, so was it surprising that Jason had also moved on?

“No, no, of course not. That’s—” Sam coughed. “That’s the whole point of divorce, you know? Um, we don’t work, so it’s—we should go find people we do work with. I just—” She closed her eyes. “Yeah. I think—I don’t know, maybe you should. Or not. This is ridiculous.” Sam rolled her eyes. “You can’t be surprised that I’m jealous of Elizabeth, can you? I mean, she’s always been—” She wiggled her fingers. “There. In the background. Even the first time we broke up six years ago, you know?”

Jason furrowed his brow. “Sam—”

“So I guess maybe I’m looking for an apology I don’t really deserve,” she muttered. “Because I knew it, and I thought I could—this is stupid,” she said. “I’m not doing this to myself anymore. I asked you, you answered—thank you for not lying.”

She turned and stalked out of the restaurant as Jason frowned after her, not entirely sure he’d handled that right but unable to see how he could have done it differently.

—

The next day was Halloween, and Elizabeth was waiting outside of her house with her boys, rolling her eyes as Patrick scowled at the matching costumes Cameron and Emma had picked out from the store. Cameron was dressed as Flynn Rider, and Emma was ridiculously excited over the luxurious long wig she got to wear as Rapunzel.

“They’re babies,” Patrick said disgusted.

Elizabeth snickered as she lifted Aiden, dressed as a pumpkin, into his red wagon. “They’re eight, Patrick. How old were you when you had your first crush?” she teased.

Patrick’s eyes widened with horror. “I was five.” He pointed a finger at her. “You keep your kid away from my princess—”

“Hey, you want to know something really terrifying—” Elizabeth wiggled her eyebrows. “I was also five. Guess who my first crush was?”

“Oh, God.” Patrick groaned. “Who? Scott Baio?”

“Nope. Closer to home.” Elizabeth smiled as Jason stepped out his SUV and walked towards them. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Jason nodded at Patrick. “Sorry I’m late.”

“No problem. Patrick and I were just comparing notes on our first crushes,” Elizabeth told him. “He’s not comfortable with Emma and Cameron—they’re dressed as a couple from a Disney movie.”

“Okay,” Jason said. “I don’t remember mine,” he admitted. “I mean, from their age. But in the hospital, after the accident, I had—I guess you’d call it a crush on Bobbie.”

“Bobbie, huh? I’ve seen pictures.” Patrick looked at Elizabeth. “So if it’s not Scott Baio, who? Oh, God, a New Kid? Jordan?”

“We’re going to come back to your knowledge of 1980s heartthrubs in a minute,” Elizabeth said. “But, no. The summer I was visiting my grandparents when I was five.” She grinned at Jason. “My brother was hanging out with a couple of kids his age. AJ was his best friend back then, but ah, I had thought his twelve-year-old little brother was perfect.”

Jason raised his brows. “Me?” he repeated.

“Oh, yeah.” Elizabeth shrugged. “So, Patrick, it could be worse.”

“I hate all of you,” Patrick muttered.